The present invention relates to roof carriers in general, and more particularly to a roof carrier adapted for transporting surfing boards or the like on the roof of a passenger car. Still more particularly, the present invention is concerned with a roof carrier provided with an arrangement for preventing unauthorized removal from the roof carrier of the surfing boards or similar objects carried thereon.
Roof carriers of various constructions are already known and in widespread use. They may be constructed as roof racks constituting standard or optional equipment of a passenger car as supplied by a manufacturer, or they may be purchased separately and mounted on the roof of the car either permanently or detachably, depending on the construction of the roof carrier and the wishes of the user. Especially in the case of detachable mounting, the roof carriers may have specialized constructions conforming to the shape or other parameters of the objects to be supported thereby. In either event, the roof carrier includes a variety of interconnected elements extending longitudinally and transversely of the vehicle as considered in the assembled condition of the roof carrier on the motor vehicle and constituting a support structure which is connected to the motor vehicle.
In a conventional roof carrier which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,866, a holder is rigidly connected to a longitudinal element of the support structure which interconnects two transverse elements of the same structure. The holder is tubular and extends upwardly from the longitudinal element. This support structure serves for supporting a spare wheel which partially rests on the longitudinal element and partially on the rear transverse element. The holder extends through the central opening of the rim of the spare wheel. For connecting the spare wheel, a disc-shaped element is placed over the rim and an abutment is threaded onto an end portion of the holder which is provided with an external thread, until the abutment presses the plate against the rim. In order to avoid unauthorized removal of the spare tire, the abutment is secured against unthreading. There is provided an arresting element which has an eyelet and reaches into a hole of the rim. This arresting element can be connected to the abutment by means of a padlock passing through the eyelet so that the abutment is prevented from turning.
When the roof carrier-holder arrangement is constructed in this manner, it exhibits the drawback that the object to be transported, in this case the spare wheel, must be lifted to a relatively high level in order to render it possible to slip the same onto the holder. To be able to do this, the user of the car has to step on the running board, in order to be able to lift the spare wheel to this level in the first place. In addition, the spare wheel, which has a substantial weight, must be slipped onto the holder in exact alignment therewith not only at this substantial height, but also at a considerable lateral distance from the side of the car. This is very cumbersome in view of such substantial height and lateral distance. Furthermore, after the spare wheel has been properly positioned on the carrier and on the holder, the securing padlock has to be properly positioned and locked, still at this substantial height and lateral distance, which is also very difficult to do.
Exactly the same problems are encountered in a known roof carrier for surfing boards which is disclosed in the German Utility Model 76 04 510, inasmuch as a stationary holder is provided here, which passes through the central opening of the surfing board. As a result of this, it is necessary to slip the surfing board, which also has a very substantial weight, at the substantial elevation and at a considerable lateral distance from the side of the car, onto the holder. This operation can be performed by one person only with the exertion of a considerable effort. Because of the unfavorable possibilities of handling, there exists the danger that the surfing board could be damaged during its positioning, when the opening of the surfing board is not exactly aligned with the stationary holder at the time the surfing board is lowered onto the roof carrier. When this roof carrier is used, a padlock must again be connected to the protruding end of the holder, which is very difficult to achieve.